Mount Vernon Cemetery · Photo: Pvmoutside · CC BY-SA 3.0For property crime, West Boylston beats 91% of U.S. towns per resident
2 of the 4 towns next door with figures record less crime per resident. Overall, West Boylston grades A− for safety (#77 of 276 graded towns in Massachusetts): less crime per resident than 82% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported in 2023–2025. In a usual year, 1.2 violent crimes and 2.9 incidents of property crime are logged per 1,000 inhabitants; in the rest of Massachusetts, 3.0 and 10.3.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of MA” is every other Massachusetts city and town in the FBI’s tables; the U.S. figure is the FBI’s national estimate as published, averaged over the three years. The FBI publishes no national homicide or robbery rate in our data, so those compare with all U.S. cities and towns in its tables.
What stands out about safety in West Boylston
2 of the 4 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 5 Massachusetts towns on West Boylston’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Holden (A), Sterling (A), Boylston (A−), Shrewsbury (A−). Worcester reported to the FBI for 2024 but not 2023 or 2025. Neighbors ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind West Boylston’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Both violent and property crime are lower than in most U.S. towns; property crime is the stronger of the two.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | West Boylston | Rest of Massachusetts | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.1 | 3.2 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.4 | 3.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.1 | 3.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.1 | 2.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
West Boylston’s police reported 29 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.2 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.0 in the rest of Massachusetts and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in West Boylston per 1,000 residents
Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Crimes reported to police in 2025 per resident; one person can be the victim of more than one, and some reports involve visitors.
And about 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | West Boylston property | Rest of Massachusetts property | West Boylston violent | Rest of Massachusetts violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5.0 | 10.5 | 1.1 | 3.2 |
| 2023 | 3.3 | 10.9 | 1.4 | 3.1 |
| 2024 | 2.9 | 10.3 | 1.1 | 3.0 |
| 2025 | 2.5 | 9.8 | 1.1 | 2.9 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Massachusetts.
29 crimes reported in 2025
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
9 violent and 20 property, as reported to the FBI by West Boylston’s police.
Five people died in crashes on West Boylston’s roads in 2019–2023
West Boylston had 5 fatal crashes in five years, in which five people died; 1 was a pedestrian. 2 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is more than is typical for Massachusetts towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (5.2 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of West Boylston’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so West Boylston’s own rate (12.9) is context, not a ranking.
Deaths are counted where the crash happened, not where the people lived: a highway through town adds through-traffic deaths, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Town rates sit below state and U.S. rates because a third of fatal crashes happen outside any town. Road safety is described here and is not part of the Safety Grade. Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023.
West Boylston and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Boylston | A− | 1.2 | 2.9 |
| Sterling | A | 0.9 | 2.1 |
| Boylston | A− | 1.1 | 3.8 |
| Shrewsbury | A− | 0.5 | 6.2 |
| Worcester | — | — | — |
| Holden | A | 0.7 | 1.9 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Worcester reported to the FBI for 2024 but not 2023 or 2025.
Massachusetts towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Boylston | A− | 1.2 | 2.9 |
| Hamilton | A | 0.7 | 2.5 |
| Halifax | B+ | 0.9 | 8.1 |
| West Bridgewater | B− | 2.0 | 9.1 |
| Monson | B− | 3.6 | 4.9 |
| Adams | C+ | 2.7 | 12.6 |
The five graded Massachusetts towns closest to West Boylston’s population (7,923), by grade.
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- It’s reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many crimes are never reported to police.
- One number for all of West Boylston. A town-wide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of town to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against West Boylston’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (7,994 in 2025); our figure for West Boylston is 7,923 (2025 Census estimate).
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn’t report a full year, not that nothing happened.
How the grade is calculated, for every town: How TownRatings grades safety →
Questions about safety in West Boylston
Is West Boylston, MA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, West Boylston reports less crime per resident than 82% of U.S. towns, an A− Safety Grade and #77 of 276 in Massachusetts. Its police reported 1.2 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.0 in the rest of Massachusetts and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in West Boylston?
1.2 violent and 2.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Massachusetts reports 3.0 and 10.3; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is West Boylston safer than Sterling?
Sterling reports less crime per resident than West Boylston: Sterling grades A for safety and West Boylston A−. Sterling’s police reported 0.9 violent and 2.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices West Boylston?
West Boylston’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “West Boylston”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in West Boylston.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2025, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. The Safety Grade is our own summary of that data, not an official rating. Road deaths: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023. This isn’t an official statement of public safety. In an emergency, call 911.